


Time Before Time

by roguefaerie



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: BAMF Nile Freeman, Character Study, Gen, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27251347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguefaerie/pseuds/roguefaerie
Summary: There's something about Andy that makes Nile decide to do the damnedest things.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 61
Collections: Time Oops Exchange 2020





	Time Before Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taywen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taywen/gifts).



> Now with a PODFIC as of 12/30/20, see below for the lovely person who recorded this!

There was something about Andy that made Nile decide to do the damnedest things.

That’s what she told herself when she realized what she was about to do.

Copley was the one who found the possibility of the rift. It was no secret that he was as stunned by Andy as anyone else was, let alone that the rest of them existed.

So here she was. Taking exactly this one chance.

She threw the ingredients out onto the ground in front of her, braced to wait.

She was as close as they could reasonably get to the original location with this many years between then and now, and she took a deep breath as the air split in two and a doorway widened in front of her.

She stood in front of the opening in her world, knowing full well what the hell it was, and she thought about how if she went ahead and did this she could fix it all. Booker wouldn’t have to lie and Andy wouldn’t have to be in such unimaginable pain that their oldest member could barely function.

“I hope you know how screwy this is by the time I get back,” Nile muttered.

She was going to do it.

Even if it took introducing herself to the team, way back then, when they needed her the most to not fall apart.

Nile stepped through the rift, bringing her Marine know-how and her immortal body back with her.

She tried to be as incognito as she could--swapped her clothes for something she found hanging, and got ready to intercept the soldiers who were on their way to the cell where Andromache and Quynh were being held.

She kept her good boots on though, to make short work of the ground under her feet. The people she was coming for wouldn't even have time to notice.

Traveling on foot for that amount of distance was exhausting, but she was determined to do what needed to be done. Her soldier’s body was built for this. 

All she had to do was rely on her training and her endurance. 

* * *

When she found them, she made sure the soldiers were splayed out on the ground, dead and gone before she unlocked the cell with the keys she found on one of their belts. She held to the shadows, and unlocked everything without allowing herself to be seen. If she didn’t meet Andy, then she wouldn’t disturb the future.

That was at least what she told herself.

It was enough to get her through the worst of whatever this was she was feeling.

It would have to be worth it.

She knew Quynh was the one who kept Andy’s heart beating in the right rhythm.

And she was pretty sure she could get home, all undetected.

She was a Marine, or she had been once, and if she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be.

It would have to be enough. Her own heart couldn’t bear anything less.

* * *

When she stepped back through the rift that could bring her home, she knew she might have a harder time finding Andy and the rest of them. But she hadn't forgotten who they were or the ways they traveled. And so when she finally crossed paths with them again it was still in the same heavy boots, with a Marine's gait, and as she approached them she saw Andy and Quynh freeze and listen. A smile broke out on Andy's face that didn't hide her nervousness. "I told you. I told you I heard those boots that day," she was saying to Quynh as they readied themselves for a fight.

Nile met them where they stood and said, "Hello, ladies. It's good to see the two of you made it back to safety."

There was an awkward pause and then Quynh grinned, and Andy grinned, and Nile smiled, hiding her nervousness behind her teeth.

"We've been waiting a long time to thank you," Andy said.

"You already did."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Time Before Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28438596) by [AirgiPodSLV (AirgiodSLV)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AirgiodSLV/pseuds/AirgiPodSLV)




End file.
